11
The appellation "Spirit of God" (Herm. 41:6 [Man. 10.2.6]) may indicate his origin from the Father,
a notion that is spelled out explicitly in 43:17 (Man. 11.17),
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though this origination elsewhere is
clearly limited to his role in the economy of creation.
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He is also repeatedly called the "divine Spirit"
(toV pneu'ma toV qei'on) or "Spirit of the Deity" (toV pneu'ma th'" qeovthto") in a context pointing to the
Spirit's origin (Herm. 43 [Man. 11]). Perhaps the most stunning and exalted attribution to the Spirit is
when he is portrayed as directly creating the universe, an act that is elsewhere reserved for the Father
who acts through the personal mediation of the Son and Spirit: "The preexistent Holy Spirit (toV pneu'ma
toV a{gion toV proovn), which created the whole creation (toV ktivsan pa'san thVn ktivsin)." The Spirit
functions at other times in a role of cooperation with the Father, though by his primary will (59:4 [Sim.
5.6.4]).
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By far, though, the Spirit's relationship to the Father is seen as one of personal mediating agent
under his will and direction,
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and the Father acts toward creation through his Spirit (78:2 [Sim. 9.1.2])
As mentioned earlier, the Spirit's role appears to be above the Son in the incarnation. In the much-
debated Fifth Similitude, the "slave" is identified as the Son of God in his earthly ministry while the
"son" in the parable is identified with the Spirit.
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We have mentioned, however, that this ordering
during Christ's ministry is consistent with the Gospels' relationship between the Son and the Spirit.
In the Ninth Similitude, we find newer and more puzzling assertions regarding the Spirit. The angel
of repentance told Hermas, "I want to explain to you what the Holy Spirit, which spoke with you in the
form of the Church, showed you; for that Spirit is the Son of God" (78:1 [Sim. 9.1.1]).
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Osiek writes:
It is not correct to say that the church is therefore equated with the Son of God, any more than it is correct to
say that the Son of God and the Holy Spirit are equated in Sim. 5.5. Rather here, a deeper meaning is assigned
to the apparition of the woman, beyond that of church. Just as the incarnate Son is "the perfect dwelling of the
Holy Spirit in flesh," so the church is the "perfect dwelling of the Spirit" in the human community. The fact
that this new meaning comes only here is typical of the additive style of the author, whereby new meanings
are given to old images almost as an after-thought.
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Whatever the author was asserting, we can be certain that he was not ontologically equating ther persons
of the Spirit, the woman of the earlier visions, the Church, and the Son of God. Henne even urges that in
many places the phrase "holy spirit" is not to be taken as the third person of the Trinity, but in a non-
technical sense, as in the vision of the twelve virgins, who are symbols of twelve "holy spirits" of God.
These are personifications of the moral effects or virtues of the Spirit, like Paul's "fruit of the Spirit"
(Gal 5:22-23; cf. Herm. 90:2-5 [Sim. 9.13.2-5]). Thus, Henne concludes (and I am inclined to agree):
Nous avons pu établir que la Neuvième Similitude ne parlait pas d'un esprit doué d'une volonté et d'un agir
propres. De plus, l'expression «esprit saint» ne désigne par un esprit particulier, supérieur aux autres. Enfin,
l'esprit préexistant dont parle la Cinquième Similitude, ne remplit pas la même fonction dans la creation que
le Fils de Dieu dans la Neuvième Similitude et ne saurait être confondu avec Lui.
issue, see S. Giet, Hermas et les Pasteurs: Les trois auteurs du Pasteur d'Hermas (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1963),
227-28; Henne, La christologie chez Clément de Rome et dans le Pasteur d'Hermas, 234-43; Halvor Moxnes, "God and His Angel
in the Shepherd of Hermas," in Early Christianity and Judaism, ed. Everett Ferguson, Studies in Early Christianity: A Collection of
Scholarly Essays (New York: Garland, 1993), 49-56; Osiek, Shepherd of Hermas, 34-35.
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pneuvmati tw'/ ejrcomevnw/ ajpoV tou' qeou'. Two other passages may communicate this same sense, though it is uncertain
whether they refer to the Father or Son (101:4 [Sim. 9.24.4]; 109:4 [Sim. 9.32.4] cf. Herm. 28:2 [Man. 3.2]).
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Herm. 43:21 (Man 11.21) refers to "the divine Spirit that comes from above" (toV pneu'ma toV qei'on a[nwqen ejrcovmenon).
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There are several passages in book of Mandates that could be referring to the Holy Spirit, but may also be understood as
anthropomorphisms of personifications of Christian virtues (Herm. 28:1-2 [Man. 3.1-2]; 33:2-3 (5.1.2-3); 41:5 [Man. 10.2.5]). See
Osiek, Shepherd of Hermas, 107, 119.
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Herm. 59:5 (Sim. 5.6.5); 72:1 (Sim. 8.6.1); 109:4 (Sim. 9.32.4) cf. 28:2 (Man. 3.2). Another debatable reference includes
Herm. 41:5 (Man. 10.2.5), where it seems on the surface that the Holy Spirit is in view, but a reading of the preceding context forces
one to doubt this understanding.
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Herm. 58:2 (Sim 5.5.2).
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= Qevlw soi dei'xai o{sa soiV e[deixe toV pneu'ma toV a{gion toV lalh'san metaV sou' ejn morfh'/ th'" *Ekklhsiva": ejkei'no
gaVr toV penu'ma oJ uiJoV" tou' qeou' ejstin.
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Osiek, Shepherd of Hermas, 212.